A campaign to give volunteer police officers a 50 per cent council tax discount has been branded “absurd” and an “insult” to people’s good will.

The Reverend Paul Nicolson, of Campbell Road, Tottenham, is one of many who have attacked the Liberal Democrat proposal to give Special Constables a tax cut.

Campaigners believe the discount would reward existing ‘Specials’ and encourage more people to volunteer and help the police fight crime.

But Rev Nicolson, a campaigner who refused to pay his council tax in protest against benefit cuts, disagrees. He said: “This policy is an insult to the good spirit in which people volunteer and we do not need a pathetic bribe to get people to do good in our community.

“It is totally absurd. The council charges benefit claimants who struggle to put food on the table at least 20 per cent of council tax.

“It makes absolutely no sense to give any old special constable a 50 council tax discount for volunteering just 16 hours a month regardless of how much money they make.”

Unlike Police Community Support Officers, Specials have the same powers and responsibilities as regular police officers.

They spend up to 16 hours a month volunteering with the police - without pay - in order to help make communities safer.

There are currently 62 Specials in the borough, so a discount at the average band D rate would cost the council around £46,000.

Rev Nicolson said the discount would mean Specials would no longer be volunteers as they would be gaining financially from the role.

He said: “If Specials get this discount where will it stop?

“There are volunteers all over the place – in foodbanks, in soups kitchens, and people who volunteer with the disabled. Is the work they do any less worthy?”

From an internet search it seems to me that this proposal comes from other LibDem councils and has now been taken up by Lynne Featherstone. But without bothering to think it through at the local level. It's very sad that 2½ years after the Tottenham riot, with Police-Community relationships at the centre of discussion, this sort of empty gesture politics is the best Lynne can come up with. Perhaps, Jaber, you'd like to ask how many of the Special Constables allocated to Haringey do actually live in the borough?

From an internet search it seems to me that this proposal comes from other LibDem councils and has now been taken up by Lynne Featherstone. But without bothering to think it through at the local level.
It's very sad that 2½ years after the Tottenham riot, with Police-Community relationships at the centre of discussion, this sort of empty gesture politics is the best Lynne can come up with.
Perhaps, Jaber, you'd like to ask how many of the Special Constables allocated to Haringey do actually live in the borough?Alan Stanton

From an internet search it seems to me that this proposal comes from other LibDem councils and has now been taken up by Lynne Featherstone. But without bothering to think it through at the local level. It's very sad that 2½ years after the Tottenham riot, with Police-Community relationships at the centre of discussion, this sort of empty gesture politics is the best Lynne can come up with. Perhaps, Jaber, you'd like to ask how many of the Special Constables allocated to Haringey do actually live in the borough?

Ipsoregulated

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